


Long Way Around

by therudestflower



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Affection, And is it an outer banks fic without, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Is it gen is it pre-romance it depends what you want, It does not look fun don't do it kids, JJ saves the day, Kie's Kook Year, Pre-Season/Series 01, Reconciliation, Recreational Drug Use, Sharing a Bed, let's make that a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24034558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therudestflower/pseuds/therudestflower
Summary: Kiara's first drug experience really sucks until she comes down and JJ is there for the first time in months.“You can spend the night,” she said. “I mean. Is everything okay, like is--”“Oh no,” JJ said loudly, “Not cool. Don’t turn this around. Who is the hero here? I’m saving you. You can save me later if you really want to.”
Relationships: JJ & Kiara (Outer Banks), JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 219





	Long Way Around

Kiara’s last attempt to make friends at Kook Academy went the exact opposite way she planned. 

The Sarah thing had just happened was so painful it was like her entire brain was sunburned. But Kiara knew she had to act fast to have a survivable social life. There were still a few pockets of students who didn’t revile her for being a full-on snitch. Namely, Hudson Turner and Jel. Like her, they were from families that had earned their wealth, which to everyone around them basically made them paupers. So even though Kiara had handed over money for Jel to get acid from her cousin weeks ago, she kind of expected that the plan was still on, a week after Kiara came to school to find “snitch” written on her locker repeatedly with at least seven handwritings. 

Jel found her in the hall early on Friday and said, “Hey, you still down? Come to my house after?” 

Kiara paused, kind of waiting for Jel to say _psych! Fuck you._ But she just waited, eyes widening a bit as time went on. Jel just lived down the street, and Kiara had no excuse to say no, she smiled and said, “Yeah. Yeah, seven?” 

“Right after school,” Jel corrected. “It lasts like, twelve hours. We gotta give it time so we don’t sleep through the high.” 

Kiara smiled and nodded. She could always go home and change out of her uniform before it kicked in. Honestly, she kind of felt really on edge these days, and psychedelics that lasted twelve hours weren’t what she wanted. But she needed friends, and rich burnouts might be the best she got. She’d burned the bridge with the guys, which wasn’t even what she wanted but she had. And she didn’t have any business turning down friends. 

So. Actual, like real social pressure. That was why at four that afternoon, or maybe three in the morning Kiara was calling JJ begging him to come over. 

Things were really pretty chill at first, overall, but then her hands started growing and making noise and that _sucked_ , so Kiara left Jel’s house without saying anything and got into bed and pulled her comforter over her head. 

What if her hands just kept growing and then what if Kiara died and no one knew and she just wanted to be with someone who wasn’t Jel and wasn’t anyone who she couldn’t trust so. 

“You better be dying,” JJ said. She had to call him three times before he answered. 

“I am,” Kiara promised. 

There was a minute or maybe four hours of silence. “What?” 

“Please just come. I did acid and I don’t like it at all, and you’re the only one who can save me.” 

The silence this time was less than four hours. “Are you at home?” JJ said, and she was too alarmed with the really serious feeling that the world might be ending to be too bothered that he sounded really worried about her. 

“Yeah,” Kiara whispered. “Yeah, my parents aren’t here but my hands keep changing.” 

JJ groaned. “Okay. I need to get my bike. Just get in bed and put on music you like and don’t shoot me when I come in, okay?” 

Maybe nine hundred hours later, JJ knocked on her bedroom door and said, “It’s your former friend JJ, not a monster. Don’t kill me.” 

Kiara sat up and carefully pulled her comforter down. The entire room was breathing, but JJ was staying right in place, hands up like she might shoot him. She was pretty sure he was wearing John B’s raincoat and for a second it occurred to hear that might have been doing something that wasn’t saving her, but she decided to dismiss that because her parents always told her that if she was in danger, the most important thing to do was get out of that situation. 

“What’s happening?” JJ asked. 

“Just, everything is moving, and I don’t like it at all.” 

“Are you hearing voices or something?” 

“No,” Kiara said. “Is this normal?” She had barely pulled the comforter below her eyes, but really wanted to pull it back over her. “Can you just come in here with me? Please?” 

“Seriously?” 

“Not if you don’t consent,” Kiara managed. She wasn’t a monster, after all. 

JJ looked at the ceiling and Kiara looked up to check if anything was up there, but nothing was. With a sigh, JJ said, “Yeah, okay,” and pulled his boots off and dropped his coat on the ground. Grateful, Kiara scooted over, leaving room for him to get in next to her. Still wearing jeans, JJ climbed next to her and allowed Kiara to pull him further down the mattress so she could pull the comforter over both of them. 

She touched her phone screen to illuminate their cave. Light filtered through her comforter, and the phone screen illuminated their faces. Finally, she felt a little safer. If the devil came into her house, then he'd have a harder time finding them. 

“Give me your phone?” JJ asked. She handed it over, and he started typing. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Looking up bad acid trips,” JJ said. 

Kiara wrinkled her eyebrows. “This hasn’t happened to you?” 

“Never done acid.” JJ wasn’t looking at her, and she wasn’t sure if he was still mad at her. He was helping her, and JJ frequently suggested killing people who mildly inconvenienced them when they were friends. So that was good, but Kiara was still disappointed. 

“I thought you could help because you’d done this,” Kiara said. 

“Should have called Pope,” JJ said. Kiara managed to laugh. “Uh, I’m supposed to remind you this is temporary. When did you take it? It’s not supposed to be more than nine hours. I’m also not supposed to leave you alone.” 

“Were you working?” Kiara asked. 

JJ finally looked at her, and Kiara was pretty sure it wasn’t the acid that granted her the ability to read his mind, because that happened from time to time. Now, she didn't need words to hear, _It doesn’t matter,_ she read, _you called and I was always going to come._

“Shit,” she said, “you can totally eat dinner here if you want.” 

Their cave under the comforter was getting hot, but she hoped that he wouldn’t suggest they come out, because finally, she felt like the growing and groaning world wasn’t going to hurt her. 

“Yeah,” JJ said, “I’m basically chained to you until this is over, I’m most definitely eating your food.” 

“But we have to stay here right now,” Kiara said. 

“Okay.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


For ninety years or maybe twenty minutes, the world kept shifting, and she felt lost, and she made the mistake of looking in the mirror, maybe met the devil and she really fucking stupid and the only thing consistent was JJ sitting next to her. JJ choosing music to play on her phone. JJ making mac and cheese and periodically saying, “This is going to end, okay?” and then eventually time went back to normal. 

They were in the TV room sitting on the recliners, playing music through the TV, and Kiara took a deep breath and realized that nothing felt weird when she breathed out. For a little while, she suspected it might be over, but she just stayed where she was with her eyes closed until she was sure. 

Carefully, she opened her eyes and saw the music video on the TV, which was not breathing or moving any more than it should and she didn’t feel afraid. 

“I think I’m done,” she said. 

JJ looked up. She was pretty sure he’d been playing on her phone most of the time. “You sure?” he asked. 

“What time is it?” 

“About eleven,” JJ said, “Are you sure it’s over?” 

Kiara nodded. “Did I do anything weird?” 

JJ grinned. “You did a lot of weird things, but mostly you just sat there with your eyes closed and basically looked like you were dying. It was depressing. Just so you know, all my ill will towards you is temporarily erased because I’m basically six feet of pity for you.” 

Kiara closed her eyes and fell back against the reclining chair and her stomach turned at how it slightly gave way under her. She ran her hands over her clothes quickly and determined that she was literally still wearing her school uniform. 

“You couldn’t have encouraged me to change?” 

“What, and end my fantasy for a sexy schoolgirl who is tripping balls and acting super weird? There was no telling you to do anything. Thanks for ruining that dream for me, by the way.” 

“You’re welcome,” Kiara chirped, opening her eyes and sitting up. “I’ve done the world a favor, that’s so creepy. I’m just gonna take a shower, change and just try to be a person again. Do you want me to…” 

What was the post-bad trip etiquette? She didn’t really want to drive, she still felt shaky and she didn’t want JJ to leave. Her parents were visiting her aunt, and the fear of being alone and it all starting over was real. But. JJ was probably so sick of her, he was pissed at her before she’d summoned her to her bad trip, gotten him fired and ruined his gross uniform fetish. 

“You kicking me out?” he asked, raising his hands to his mouth in fake shock. 

“No,” Kiara insisted. “No. I just don’t know if you are sick of me.” 

“I am sick of you,” JJ agreed. “But I’m not leaving you alone to wander into the ocean.” 

And yeah, Kiara didn’t want to wander into the ocean either. She took her time taking a shower, maybe she was still tripping a little because the shower was the most amazing thing she’d ever experienced. Her pajama pants were flannel and soft, and the Wreck branded sweat-shirt she pulled on was exactly what she needed. 

She took in her room. The fear and panic she’d so recently felt in this room hit like tangible memories, but the only sign that anything odd had happened was JJ’s muddy boots and raincoat crumpled on her carpet. 

Downstairs she found more signs of odd things happening--the blankets under the kitchen table and the chairs arranged to make a fortress told a pretty clear story--but none were odder than JJ Maybanks sitting on the kitchen island, eating out of a pot of mac and cheese. 

“Hey,” she said. 

“Hey,” he said. “You’re still fine.” 

“Yeah,” Kiara said. She wasn’t totally fine, she was damn embarrassed. 

She spent their entire friendship--with JJ, but all the guys--fighting so hard to prove that she could handle herself. Every time she thought she’d made her point and didn’t need to work anymore, they’d say some offhand misogynistic comment and not even realize it and Kiara knew the respite was an illusion, and she couldn’t ever stop. 

John B and Pope were still polite to her sometimes, and Pope occasionally still sent her memes. But she and JJ hadn’t shared a word since the last time she apologetically canceled a plan to hang out with Sarah. He barely responded when she broke the news and proceeded to ignore her, even when they crossed paths in person, for months. 

So, calling him as a literal damsel in distress and begging him to save her from dragons, imagined or not? She’d never been more embarrassed. 

“I’m fine now.” she agreed, a little forcefully. “Hey, I’m sorry about all this. That was insane right?” 

JJ took a giant bite of mac and cheese and chewed slowly. “Eh. It’s good you didn’t delete my number. Pretty sure one of your kook friends would have posted this shit on snap and let you walk through a glass door.” 

A week ago Kiara would have defended her friends. Tonight she sighed and stepped towards him, reaching out for the mac and cheese. JJ handed over the pot and she picked at what was left. “You’re right,” she said. “Not a lot of JJ Maybanks at Kook Academy.” 

“Literally none,” JJ corrected. “I’m sleeping over. No negotiating.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


For a while, they tried TV, but after a few attempts lead to Kiara being hit by a train of anxiety that required complete silence, they gave up and just sat next to each other on her parent’s recliners and talked. 

“You know this house is ridiculous right?” JJ asked, “This is the most time I’ve ever spent here. I saw three rooms I hadn’t seen before.” 

Kiara reached over and flicked him on the forehead. “Yeah, I know that. I’m not sure if you got Memento disease and forgot all the houses I lived in before. I used to live a mile from you.” 

“Oh yeah,” JJ considered, “that’s true. When I leave this seven thousand square foot monstrosity and see what happens when your dad breaks your window and it rains for three days, I’ll remember your humble beginnings and won’t feel bad at all.” 

“Your dad is still being a prick?’ Kiara asked. 

JJ grinned, that awful wide one that had the opposite effect intended. “Not still, again. There’d be a lot of dead people if he was all out all the time.” She stared. “I’m kidding,” JJ said. 

“You can spend the night,” she said. “I mean. Is everything okay, like is your dad--” 

“Oh no,” he said loudly, holding one finger up. “Not cool. Don’t turn this around. Who is the hero here? I’m saving you. You can save me later if you really want to.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


By three AM, Kiara felt like the goddamn warrior she always was. She knew with certainty that she didn’t need saving anymore, and she knew that she would never do acid again. 

She also knew that when JJ said, “So, I’m just gonna hit one of seven couches. Maybe I switch it up in the middle of the night” she said, “No, just stay in my room,” and would not take no for an answer. When he looked at her with wide eyes she added, “I have an air mattress.” 

They both stood at the end of the bed and silently watched the twin air mattress inflate extremely slowly. 

“I’ll make this up to you,” Kiara promised. 

“Nah,” he said, “Lots of problems come with making friendship transactional, kind of fucks things up.” 

Kiara glanced over at him. “So we’re friends again?” 

JJ used one sock foot to test whether the mattress was inflated. “I never didn’t want to be friends. You’re the one that left.” 

“I just had other friends. Now I don’t. I’m not the one who made it all or nothing, _by the way._ ” 

JJ took a deep breath and kicked the barely inflated mattress. “Alright. Well. It’s not just me. You’ve gotta do this all over again with Pope, then John B. Are you up for that?” 

Kiara yawned and made the executive decision to unplug the automatic air pump. “You’re the only one who requires something this complicated to come over. Pretty lucky, actually, I’ll keep that in mind when memories of the trip ruin my entire. life.” 

JJ looked between the unplugged pump and the quickly deflating mattress. Like a gear clicking into place, he understood what she wanted before Kiara voiced it and jumped onto the end of her bed. “Shit, for the rest of my life Kie, no one will ever imply they went on a hellish trip just to get my attention.” 

Kiara kicked the air mattress aside and climbed into her bed. “Just grab a blanket, and sleep on top of the covers okay? Don’t you dare touch me.” 

“I wouldn’t dare,” JJ said.

She believed him, she wouldn’t do this if she didn’t. They weren’t touching, but they could feel each other's bodies and the weight of another person beside them even through the blankets. “I so didn’t do this to get your attention.” 

“Just a good side effect, right?” JJ suggested, voice already light with sleep. 

Surrounded by warm blankets and protection, sleep pulled at Kiara so quickly that she was saved from responding out loud. Exhaustion, relief, regret, and hope warred and made it impossible to voice that she hated every minute of the trip, and she was glad that JJ was back, and neither of those canceled out the other but they were both true. Kiara relied on the occasional ability to read JJ's mind, and she knew he did too. 

Kiara let JJ read her mind, and as they lay beside each other, he knew that he could get something out of the flurry that slowly smoothed out before she fell asleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> No drugs! Don't do it! It almost certainly will not result in a friendly yet amorous reconciliation! I'm just not sure about this, but this follows the network TV rule of "Teen can only use drugs if something bad happens" so....no drugs! 
> 
> Thank you for reading, I'd love to hear what you think!


End file.
